OTTAWA – Telus may have to wait until the beginning of December for a decision from the CRTC on its application to amend its general tariff so it can start charging customers a 1.5% credit card processing fee, according to a letter the Commission sent the company last week.
The letter notes the CRTC’s staff are still working on the application and as such, a decision will not be possible within the timeframe initially given (45 business days). The Commission is now saying it will issue a decision within 120 calendar days of Aug. 8, the date of…
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GATINEAU – CRTC chair and CEO Ian Scott (above) issued a statement today explaining the funding mechanisms in place for participation in Commission proceedings and announcing they have launched an internal review of the criteria for cost awards in light of recent events, which have called into question the funding awarded to the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) and its senior consultant Laith Marouf.
Back in August, the federal government cut the funding it awarded to the organization to develop an anti-racism strategy after it was brought to the minister of housing and diversity and inclusion’s attention that Marouf…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC put out a call for comments today on an application from Quebecor Media on behalf of its subsidiary TVA Group to remove the limit on advertising currently imposed on TVA’s discretionary services.
The Commission is also considering the possibility of removing the limit for other discretionary services as well.
Right now, TVA’s AddikTV, CASA, Évasion, MOI ET CIE, PRISE2, Yoopa and Zeste, as well as LCN (is national news service) and TVA Sports and TVA Sports 2 (its mainstream sports services) are restricted to airing no more than 12 minutes of advertising per clock hour, the CRTC…
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OTTAWA – While telecommunications service providers continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, the CRTC is seeking more information on how they prepared for and responded to the storm.
The Commission sent a request for information last week to Bell, Eastlink, Rogers and Telus. By Oct. 7, the companies are expected to submit information including “a high-level estimate of the number of customers affected by service outages of 24 hours or more caused by the hurricane, for each of the phone, mobile wireless, and Internet access services,” as well as “The status to date of any…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – There is “no silver bullet” that will put an end to fraudulent phone calls, Ian Scott, chair of the CRTC told the House of Commons Committee on Industry, Science and Technology last Thursday during a meeting at which Commission representatives updated the committee about their ongoing work on the problem.
“There is no single solution – no silver bullet – that will put an end to this scourge,” Scott said. “That is why we have put in place a robust strategy that relies on a number of technical and regulatory solutions.”
Back in March 2020, the…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
THE STATED PURPOSE of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, “is to regulate digital news intermediaries with a view to enhancing fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contributing to its sustainability, including the sustainability of independent local news businesses.”
The motivation for the act stems from the idea that local newspapers do not get the appropriate recompense for news that they produce but that reaches the public via digital platforms. These platforms are considered to have inordinate market power that can be misused.
Scheme of the act
To rectify the situation, the act contemplates a mandatory bargaining…
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Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel asking for $3/month increase to skinny basic packages
OTTAWA and GATINEAU — Six years after skinny basic TV packages were first introduced in Canada, with a CRTC-mandated price cap of $25 per month, a group of TV service providers has asked the Commission to increase that cap to $28 per month.
Bell, Cogeco Communications, Eastlink and SaskTel filed a joint application in January 2022 making the request, which also asked for subsequent yearly adjustments based on inflation, according to a CRTC press release today.
“They indicate that the proposed annual increase to the price of the…
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Patience is appreciated on CRTC proceedings related to barriers to broadband deployment
By Amanda Oye
MONT-TREMBLANT – As the Canadian communications industry faces (yet another) period of immense change, CRTC interim vice-chair of broadcasting and commissioner for Quebec, Alicia Barin (above), applauded the resiliency of the members of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance and assured them they are being heard on important CRTC files.
Speaking today at CCSA’s 2022 Connect conference, Barin pointed out CCSA members are no strangers to challenges or change. She spoke of their resiliency, recalling “the “death stars” of the early 1990s… the term applied to…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT that Bill C-11 will be enacted by the government in substantially the same form in which it was passed by the House of Commons.
Once it is enacted it will be up to the CRTC to implement it. The purpose is clear; integrate streamers such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, into the Canadian broadcasting system and have them contribute their appropriate share to the production and promotion of Canadian programs. The CRTC is given new, wide discretionary powers to do so.
Scoping Hearing
The act will apply to online broadcasting undertakings that transmit programs. Given…
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Disappointment expressed by multiple groups that the order does not mention Tandem
OTTAWA – Cabinet has referred the CBC’s licence renewal decision back to the CRTC.
The CRTC issued the decision renewing the licences for the Corporation’s English- and French-language audiovisual and audio services this past June. Following this, the Governor in Council received 16 petitions asking for the decision to be set aside or referred back to the Commission.
The petitioners raised concerns about the CRTC giving the CBC flexibility to transfer its programming requirements to online platforms, about the CBC’s commercial activities including Tandem, its branded content initiative,…
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